Spool-holding box.



PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

G. NORWO OD.

SPOOL HOLDING BOX.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1905.

Q1 \\\NU- R Q R Q M W 0 a. .2

Q N Mf N Ru a Q of thread from the thread GEORGE NORWOOD,

OF ONE-THIRD TO JOHN S. RICHARDSON,

CHUSETTS.

OF WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR or BOSTON, MASSA- SPOOL-HOLDING BOX- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented may 15, 1906.

Application filed Kay 1, 1905. Serial Ho. 258,181.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Gnonon Nonwoon, of Winthrop of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Spool-Holding Boxes, of whic the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a holder in which spools of various kinds 0 thread may be held in such a manner that the thread may easily be drawn off from the spools and engths thereof easily broken off.

Further objects are to provide spool-holding means with which a full spool may be easily enga ed and from which an empty one may quick y be removed, and to provide a breakmg device which in separating a length on the s 001 will leave a frayed end, which can easil e twisted up into a point capable of readi y entering the eye of a needle.

The essentials of the invention comprise a box having mounted in its interior resilient holding-arms with which the spools of thread are detachably engaged, the walls of the box having openings through which the thread ma be led as it is drawn off from the spools,

an breaking devices mounted on the sides of the box immediately adjacent the openings, whereby the thread can be easily broken and which will retain the end of thread left after the breaking.

In the drawings illustratin the preferred embodiment of my invention, i re 1 represents a plan of the spool-holding ox with the cover removed, showing the spools in place. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the same, partially broken away. Fig. 3 re resentsa cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. ig. 4 represents a fragmentary sectional view showing in axial sectlon a spool of thread and the resilient holding members. Figs. 5 and 6 represent perspective views of two forms of spool-holding devices. Fig. 7 represents a perspective view of the preferred form of thread-breaking device. I

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

a re resents the box or casing, having a remova le cover I) and a bottom a, to which are secured the spool-holders d, which are fixed rigidly to the ottom of the box and provided wlth resilient arms (1, which ro'ect approximatelyperpendicularlyfrom ebottomofthe in the county of Suffolk and State box. These arms are arranged in pairs 10- cated a sufficient distance apart to receive between them a spool e, the distances bein varied, of course, to accommodate spools 0 different sizes. Preferably the arms are made of strips of relatively thin springy sheet metal, and each pair may be bent up from a sin le strip, the intermediate portio fdf of. which is perpendicular to the arms, as shown in Fig. 5, or the holding-arms may be made of separate pieces having per endicularlybent portions d d", adapted to e placed on the bottom of the box a, as shown in Fi 6. In this form one of the portions whic is adapted to rest on the box-floor, as the part (1 is offset and superposed on the ortion d. T 's ortionis rovidedwithslotsf through whic the hol ing-screws g g, w ich secure it to the box-floor, pass. As will be readily a parent, the slots permit adjustment of one of the arms d toward and from the other, so that thereby the holder is adapted to take spools of varying sizes.

The arms d each carry a protuberance or projection h, arranged on the side adjacent the other arm of the pair and ada ted to enter one end of the central bore 4, o the spool. These projections h are rounded, being preferably segments of s heres, and are short, being extended from t e sides of. the arms adj acent the spool a distance sufficient to enter slightly the bore of the spool and support the same. The curvature and extension of the projections h are such that the sides thereof are but slightly inclined away from the sides of the arms d-that is, they make obtuse angles with the surroundin plane surfaces of the arms. The gentle inc ination of the sides of the protuberances from the adjacent or bearing surfaces of the arms enables the ipool to be pushed down between them an by bearing against them to separate the arms without requiring the arms to be separated manually. Thus a spool may be placed in a holder by a sin le movement and with the use of but one hand, and when it has been moved down far enough the resiliency of the arms causes the protuberances to snap into the bore of the spool. As shown in'the drawings the projections h are in the form of rivets aving large heads; but in order to reduce the expense of manufacture they may be formed by simply indenting and ressing out integral portions of the arms; e arms are continued above the projections h a suflicient distance. to extend slightly beyond the circumferences of the adjacent spool-flanges e and are then bent outwardly away from each other and from the spools to form lips d, by which they may be engaged and s rung away from each other to facilitate the p acing or removal of a spool and between which the spool may enter when it is being laced and when the arms as a whole are held by their resiliency nearer together than the length of the spool. I

In the side walls of the casing are eyelets or bushings k, providing holes Z, through which the threads m from the s ools are extended, and externally on the si es of the box beneath the holes, there bein one adjacent each hole, are the thread brea l dng and holding devices 0. In their simplest form these breaking devices consist each of a metal plate attached by a screw to the wall of the 0x and having an integral tongue p struck up therefrom. As the tongue pis integrally end.

attached at one end to the plate and at its other end projected therefrom, its opposite sides project outwardly at an acute angle to the sides of the recess formed in the plate by its removal, and also the process of se arating and forcing outwardly the tongue eaves the adjacent edges of it and of the plate rough and saw-like. This forms on the late and tongue, respectively, two pairs 0 approximately rectangular jag ed edges, which .are substantially arallel an arran ed in the same manner as t e cutting edges 0 a air of shears, and these edges coo erate wit each other in breaking the threa and holding its When a sufficient length of thread has been drawn ofi one of the spools, it is assed under the adjacent tongue 10 and pulled upward. Th'is draws the thread through the pair of shear-like rough edges on one side of the tongue and recess, causing the thread to be frayed and broken, not. with a sharp clean cut, but a few strands at a time, so that an uneven brush-like end is left on the thread, the end which is left after the breaking being held between the jaw and adjacent portions of the plate, leaving a length between the breaking device and ad'acent outlet which is in position to be graspe and pulled out when a new needleful is required. The thread end after being broken in the manner described is in the best condition for being threaded into the needle-eye, for upon wetting the brush-like end and twisting it between the thumb and forefinger a sharp point is produccd which will enter the eye with the least possible resistance.-

I am aware that other spool-holders have been constructed with thread-cutters adjacent; but such devices are unsatisfactor as they cut the thread witha s uare end w 'ch unfits it to be threaded ea y into a needle having a small eye. My breaking device is constructed and adapted to operate difierentl from such cutters and it leaves the end of the thread in such shape that it can be assed through the eye of t e needle with the east ossible resistance.

I c aim- 1. A spool-holding box comprising in combination, a box having orifices in ItS SldBS,

spool-holders consisting of pairs of flat springarms secured to the bottom of the box and rojecting perpendicularly therefrom, and iiaving s a ow rounded protuberances on their ad'acent sides, the arms of said holders bein ada ted to extend by the ends of the spoo s an the protuberances to enter the bores of the spools and support them, and thread holding and breaking devices secured to the outside of the box adjacent each orifice, each such device consisting of a flat plate having an integral tongue struck out at an acute angle from the surface thereof, the threads being lead from each s 001 through the nearest orifice and under the tongue of the adjacent holding and breaking device.

' 2. A spool-holding box comprising in combination, a box having orifices in 1ts sides, spool-holders consisting each of two springstrips bent at right angles and secured by screws to the bottom of the box, one portion of each strip lying flat on the bottom'of the box, such portion of one strip overlapping that of the other and having slots receiving the fastening screws for ad'ustment, the

other portions of the stri s eing upright, forming holding-arms; sha ow rounded protuberances on the adjacent sides of the upht arms; the arms. of said holders being adapted to extend bythe ends of the spools and the protuberances to enter the bores thereof and support them; and thread holding and breaking devices secured to the outside of the boxadjacent each orifice, each such device consisting of a flat plate having an integral tongue struck out at an acute angle from the surface between the side edges thereof, the threads being led from each s 001 through the nearest orifice and under tiietongue of the adjacent holding and breaking device.

3. A holder for spools comprisin a box or casing, spool-holders consisting eac of a pair of flat s ring-stri s bent so as to extend perendicu arly, an secured adjustably, to the ottom of said casing whereby the distances between the members of each pair may be varied, and said arms havin protuberances adapted to enter the opposite ends of the bore of a spool.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, GEORGE NORWOOD.

Witnesses:

A. C. RATIGAN, E. T. GRAHAM. 

